I Don’t Care, Venable

Gramma’s House

On a Sunday, the standing fans doing little to move the stagnant air. The scent of the beef simmering on the stove can’t mask three generations’ worth of sweat. They say smell is intimately connected to memory, don’t they? The landline keeps ringing, but no one wants to talk. Auntie has hard candies and a strange man’s last name. Can you be sure it isn’t just a dream, this heavy Georgia afternoon? Can you dream of rising from the low sofa, of running your hand along the chair rail down the hallway, all the doors shut against the heat? Of entering Gramma’s room where the scalloped curtains are drawn, lowering yourself into the shape of her body and the scent of Chanel No. 5 as you feel it all, the chatter, the phone, the radio begin to slip just out of consciousness? If you wake up and everything is gone, how much can you possibly remember?

Gannon

E.C. Gannon’s work has appeared in Peatsmoke Journal, Assignment Magazine, SoFloPoJo, Olit, and elsewhere. Raised in New Hampshire, she holds a degree from Florida State University and is pursuing another at the University of New Mexico.

James Reade Venable has been published in Black + White Photography, Dodho, F-Stop and many more. He is a 2x London Photo Festival Monthly Competition Winner and was on the Shortlist for the Storytelling category in 2023’s 500px Global Photography Awards, a finalist for the 2023 Monochromatic Awards by Dodo, and a finalist for this years Color Awards by Dodho. He is also an actor and is currently Henry Dorris in the BBC series Hidden Assets. He lives for his wife and daughter. He lives in New York City at the moment